SF Guide to Lavishing in Lavender
While June and July are peak lavender season in Sonoma County and Bay Area beyond, there are many ways to enjoy the fragrant flower year-round in San Francisco. To get your own fix of the spring and summer while the fog has enveloped the city, below is a local guide to lavishing in lavender this season.
According to LavenderSense, Lavender’s origins go back 2500 years and its name comes from Latin ‘lavare’ meaning ‘to wash” as the Romans used it to scent their beds, clothes, and baths. Though it wasn’t until later that it was used for its medicinal properties. Lavender is well-known for calming the mind, relaxing the body, and soothing the nervous system (a necessity for busy city life).
Seems like an ingenious combo to me…caffeine coupled with soothing flowers, so I made it my mission to track down all the LLs (Lavender Lattes to those not keen on the acronym I just made up) in town in hopes of invoking a full-blown spring/summer fever. As a lavender lover, thankfully, I have noticed this magical, floral trend popping up in coffee and tea shops around San Francisco over the past year or so.
Here are my favorite places for warm or iced floral flavors:
· Home Café (1222 Noriega St): They have a variety of creative tastes, their lavender latte and tea are my other favs, though their rose latte also hits my flowery fancy
· Fifty/Fifty Café (3157 Geary Blvd): Their lavender Earl Gray tea latte is a weekly staple of mine
· Covo Co-working (981 Mission St): This place is wonderful as they have hourly co-working and they make their own lavender syrup
· YakiniQ Café (1640 Post): A hidden gem in Japantown with great art that also makes homemade syrup for their LLs
· Coffee Bar (1890 Bryant St): Seasonal in summer, though the downtown location does have a cardamom latte that rocks my world
· Saint Frank (2340 Polk St or 1081 Mission): Their honey lavender latte soothes my spirits like no other
· Bread and Cocoa (199 Sutter St.) This place has a Lavender Mint Latte, though confession I haven’t tried it
· Milkbean (881 Post St): S’mores, Nutella, and Lavender Lattes, oh my!
· Trouble Coffee (4033 Judah St): The Girlfriend is a lavender Earl Grey latte that I love
Lavender treats for those who also have a sweet tooth:
· Chantal Guillon Patisserie (437 Hayes St and 1309 Howard St): Lavender Black Currant and Sweet Rose macaron put me in the summer spirit every time
· Salt & Straw (2201 Fillmore St and 586 Hayes St): They have a yummy Honey Lavender flavor year-round as well as currently a Chocolate Rose Petal, Orange Blossom Sorbet, and Jasmine Blossom Milk Tea and Chocolate
· Bi-Rite Creamery (3639 18th St and 550 Divisadero): Another delicious Honey Lavender option, only this one with honey from Sonoma County who makes the lavender season possible
· Native Juice Co (168 Sutter St and 163 Second St): Their Smooth Lavendator Smoothie has lavender infused coconut milk
